


Thanks, Universe

by fairytails



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, KeithxLance, Korean Keith (Voltron), M/M, Mutual Pining, Orphan Keith (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), forgetfullance, klance, photographicmemory, reallycuteklancemoments, sociallyawkwardlance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-01-22 19:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12488776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairytails/pseuds/fairytails
Summary: The universe conspires for Lance to forget a book at school, and unknowingly get knocked over by the very person he needed in his life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so this is my first proper fic, so please don’t judge me too much if it’s really bad! I just love Klance too much, and needed to share this idea I had with the internet. Enjoy!!

The morning air was crisp and fresh, the fall winds blowing back the hair, and stinging at the cheeks of Lance McClain. Lance had, once again, forgotten his Biology textbook at school, and he was beginning to think that the universe was just trying to tell him that Biology was not what he was meant to do. Hey, maybe the universe thought that Lance was destined to sit on the couch and play Call Of Duty for the rest of his life. He’d be alright with that.

Lance’s feet pounded on the sidewalk, as he made a desperate run to get to the school before his mother realized that he had left. Hispanic moms are scary. ‘Stupid Biology,’ Lance grumbled to himself, ‘Obviously wants me to fail.’ 

Soon Lance was lost in thought about the unfairness of Biology, the universe, his memory, and life in general. So lost in thought, in fact, that he ran straight into another boy running the opposite direction as him. Their shoulders collided, and Lance was, quite literally, knocked off his feet. Then of course, he looked up to see who he had bumped into, and was faced with the most beautiful person in the entire world. Suddenly, the universe didn’t seem so unfair. The boy had black hair, and dark eyes, and... was that a mullet?! What teenager wears their hair like that in 2017? Clearly, this boy needed help, and Lance very much wanted to be the one to help him.

The boy looked down at Lance, surprised at first, but growing increasingly concerned the more he looked at him. Great, he meets the frickin definition of hot, and they think he’s ugly. Thanks, universe. 

“Dude... you’re bleeding.”

Oh.

“Huh?”

Intelligent, Lance

The boy points to his nose, “Your nose. It’s bleeding.”

Great. Lance finds a pretty boy, and gets a nose bleed. He had never hoped more that his nose hit the sidewalk. 

“Oh... thanks.”

Charming.  
Okay, so maybe Lance isn’t so great in social situations that involve god like human beings, but he is great at acting. Drama’s his best class, with a 82% topping all his other courses, which are at least 10% behind that.  
‘Come on Lance, time to turn on the charm...’

Lance stands up, nose bleed and all, smiles widely, and says, “Hey, the name’s Lance McClain, but you can call me tonight.” He finished it off with a wink, and waited to see the inevitable swooning that his charisma had produced. 

“Tonight? Why would I call you tonight if your name is Lance... Is that some kind of weird nickname?”

Oh god.

“I... well, I mean-“

“My name’s Keith. Keith Kogane.” 

A smile. He’s smiling. It was a joke! He was a better actor than Lance, he really had him going. Then it hits him. He’s smiling. His name is Keith and he’s smiling, and he’s beautiful.

“Heh... I... uhh-“

“I could call you tonight.”

“You- what?”

“I could call you tonight instead of Lance.”

“Oh! Ha, yeah... no, Lance is good. Where... where were you running off to before you were so rudely interrupted?”

“Ah, well I run this way every day, after I finish school. How about you, you looked like you were in a rush, before you decided to rudely interrupt my run?”

“I... OH CRAP MY BIOLOGY. Damn it universe, can’t you just let me live?!”

“....Are you ok?” Keith asks, mildly concerned for Lance’s sanity.

“NO, I forgot my textbook at school, and now I’m late, AND MAMÁ IS GOING TO KILL ME. Ok Keith it was nice meeting you and all but now I’ve got to go and I might never see you again because I’ll be dead, and that will be a shame, but please try to live with my absence from your life”

And with that small rant, Lance took off in the other direction, leaving an amused Keith grinning and shaking his head at Lance’s retreating figure.


	2. Chapter 2

Yesterday was a strange day for Keith Kogane. First, he missed his alarm in the morning, and had to have his brother, Shiro, drive him to school. Then, he had to stay late at school to help tutor a younger student in History, resulting in his getting home an hour later, and being an hour late for his daily run. And on his daily run, he was spacing out as usual, when...

Lance McClain. Or Tonight, whichever.  
The boy that Keith had ran into while not paying attention. That was the thing about running. Somehow, it had the power to blur the world, so it was just you, the wind, and your feet against the sidewalk cement. 

Usually when Keith talked to people (especially new people, god new people were scary), he wasn’t really paying attention. He could hear what they were saying, and was able to respond (semi) appropriately, but it was fuzzy, like he was watching the conversation from outside his body. And while he was watching the conversations, his mind raced. Running through every detail of his life, the opening chapter of his favourite childhood book, the way the water sounded when his parents took him to the waterfront as a treat after his first day of kindergarten, right down to his seventh birthday, when his life changed forever. Just the perks of a photographic memory.

But strangely, when he talked to Lance, this complete stranger, who was clearly just as bad at meeting new people as Keith, his mind was focused, and every word that came out of Lance’s mouth rang through Keith’s brain, loud and clear. Maybe it was the way that Lance’s bright blue eyes captured his, shining like an ocean on a summer day, or maybe it was the way the warm glow of the autumn sunlight illuminated Lance’s tan skin, making him look-

No. Nope. He looks like nothing and nobody and Keith clearly was going insane. 

‘Seriously, I just met this guy, he could be some sort of weird psychopath, or something’

But somehow, Keith had a feeling that wasn’t the case. He remembered the way that Lance had looked up at him, blood pouring out of his nose. Then he stood up, and said possibly the cheesiest pick up line in existence, with the most adorable smile, no less. Seriously, those things are supposed to horribly backfire for all those who use them, so why did Keith’s heart beat so irregularly when he thought about it?

‘Away, gay thoughts,’ Keith scolded himself, ‘This is not the time or place.’

But truly, Keith preferred thinking about the handsome boy who forgets things, than a) actually paying attention in a class whose textbook he had already memorized, or b) thinking about his parents.

Keith’s parents had died when he was seven. On his seventh birthday, actually. He gone from starting his birthday going out to town with two loving parents, to being escorted to an orphanage in a cop car in less than 24 hours. Funny how time works.

Shiro, Keith’s ‘brother’, legally adopted Keith as soon as he was able to. Keith and him were close friends at the orphanage, and Shiro said that he wouldn’t leave Keith behind when he was able to leave. So, technically he’s Keith’s dad, but that’s weird, so Keith just calls him his brother.  
Shiro had always been there for Keith, but Keith knew that Shiro would never be able to understand all of Keith’s issues. Really, who would? Who else can seriously not forget a single thing, ever? Who else relives their parents’ deaths every time they close their eyes?

Too dark? Okay.

Back to the handsome boy who forgets things.


	3. Chapter 3

What. The. Hell.

Lance was now officially failing Biology. And now, he was 100% sure that the universe was out to get him. Thanks, universe.

_ _ _ _

“Mr. McClain, may I speak with you for a moment?” Mr. Iverson asked, as the final bell rang at the end of, you guessed it, Biology period. 

Lance walked up to the front of the classroom, and asked, “What do you need, Mr. Iverson?”

“McClain, I’m going to cut straight to the point, you’re failing my class.”

What now?

“Sir, I know I forget stuff sometimes-“

“You mean your homework, your books, your backpack, and your studying?”

“Well, yeah, I guess but-“

“McClain, I’m sorry, there’s no way I can bump your mark up. If you want to pass this course, you’re going to have to work for it yourself.”

Work for it. Ok, Lance could do that, he could work for it. It only meant less gaming, time with his friends, and all around fun in general, and more... studying. But really, it was fine! He only had to pull his mark up enough that-

“I’m also going to suggest that you find yourself a peer tutor”

What.

“I really think it would be beneficial to your grades to have someone your age helping you out.”

The.

“Because we both know that teenagers won’t listen to advice from adults. So just find someone with good grades, and that you can tolerate. It can’t be that hard McClain, you’re a popular kid.”

Hell.

_ _ _ _ 

A peer tutor. Where the hell was Lance going to find a peer tutor? He couldn’t ask his best friend, Hunk, even though the kid was a total genius, because Hunk wasn’t taking Biology this year, and was tutoring other kids every day of the week except Fridays. He couldn’t take Fridays away from the poor guy.

That only left one other option. One smart friend that Lance had, and it would be a total long-shot asking them.

But they were his last hope.

_ _ _ _

“Pidge?”

The tiny genius ignored him, and continued typing on their equally tiny laptop.

“Pidge.” He said, a little louder this time.

Silence.

“Piiiiiiiiiiddgggeeeeeee”

Again, nothing. Lance took a deep breath, and-

“PidgepidgepidgepidgepidgepidgepidgepidgePIDGE” He pestered, while repeatedly poking their arm.

Pidge’s head snapped around, and in a sickly sweet voice, said, “Oh, I’m sorry Lance, I didn’t see you there, how can I help you?” 

Uh oh. The Pidge was mad. Not a good sign.

“Uhhh, on second thought, maybe I should go...”

“LANCE MCCLAIN YOU DISTURBED MY WORK YOU’D BETTER NOT LEAVE BEFORE GIVING ME A GOOD REASON WHY”

“Uhm, well, you see,” Lance paused, rubbing the back of his neck, “I’m kind of failing Biology and I’m supposed to get a peer tutor.”

“You’re failing Biology? Dude, I told you to start writing things down!”

“Well, I was going to but then... I forgot. And I lost the note that was reminding me to write things down, which probably means it wouldn’t have worked in the first place. Anyway, that aside, will you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Be my peer tutor! That’s what I was asking you!”

“Ha. Haha. Hahaha no.”

“What?! Pidge c’mon, we’re friends right? Just do me this one favour, and I’ll do whatever you need.”

“I don’t think you want to make that promise.”

Lance thought about it for a moment, and suddenly all the evils Pidge had committed came rushing back to him.

“Uhhh, ok maybe not anything.... But I’ll do your homework for two whole months!”

“Why would I want you to do my homework?”

Ok, that one hurt a little, but they weren’t wrong. 

“Come on, Pidge, please!”

“I’m sorry Lance, but I can’t. I’m already taking three extra classes, and helping my brother with some weird plan he’s got. Plus, I would be a terrible tutor anyway. I’d probably give up on you within the first hour”

“Ughhhhhh, you damn smart people! Always so busy with... whatever smart people do.”

“Yeah, yeah, Lance. Can I go back to work now?”

“Whatever. I’ll find someone... and you will regret the day you turned down the opportunity to tutor the legendary Lance McClain!”

Pidge simply raised their eyebrows, and went back to their furious typing.

Lance looked at his phone and saw the digits 3:15 blinking back at him.

Oh no. He forgot to tell his mom that he was going to be late coming home.

He launched his bag onto his back, and sprinted out of the school. His feet pounded frantically on the pavement. He was strangely reminded of that day, with the cute (coughgorgeous) boy he had run into. He stared down at the pavement, trying to remember every detail about him. Keith. What colour was his shirt, what shoes were he wearing?

The shirt was definitely black, as was the rest of his outfit, but the shoes...

Red Converse.

And like the universe read his mind, beaten up red Converse were all he could see before he tumbled straight into a tree. 

“Hey, are you ok?”

Lance looked up, and there he was. Keith Kogane.

“We really need to stop meeting like this, Mullet Boy”

“Mullet Boy?”

“Yeah, I was wondering about that last time, what is with that?”

“I like it.” Keith says, sounding slightly miffed.

Lance decided to change the subject.

“So, on another one of your daily runs?”

“Yep. How about you, forgot a book at school again?”

“Haha, no, I forgot to tell my mom that I was going to be late coming home from school.”

“Ahh. I see a trend developing here. So, why were you staying late at school?”

“Turns out I’m actually failing Biology, and my teacher thinks I need a...”

“A what?” Keith tilts his head, looking confused, and very adorable.

“Are you smart?”

“What the hell kind of question is that?”

“Just answer it!”

“I guess?”

“And do you take Biology?”

“...Yes?”

“Perfect! Will you tutor me in Biology?”

“Me?!” Keith exclaimed “Why me? I don’t even know you!”

“Sure you do, I told you I’m Lance, but you can call me tonight, blah blah blah, and then you said that you were Keith, see? We bonded already! Also, I have no smart friends willing to help me.”

“Ok then.”

“What, really?!” Lance was surprised, he didn’t think that would actually work. Now he got to spend more time with Keith!  
Oh god... now he got to spend more time with Keith. Lance was going to be a mess.

“Yeah, sure, what’s your number, I’ll text you, and we can figure out dates.”

Oh. My. God.

Keith just asked for his number. Lance suddenly felt like he was being lifted off his feet, choirs singing in the background, a light shining dramatically on the two boys who were now definitely going to fall in love, Lance had decided....

“Um, hello?”

Oh no. Lance had been staring.

“Numbers! Right!” Lance’s eyes widened, and he scrambled to recover from the brief fantasy that had just invaded his mind.

They quickly exchanged numbers, and Lance literally skipped the rest of the way back home, like a cheerful little girl, all worries about his mother forgotten.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween everyone!! Sorry for the late update, the last couple days have been super busy!

The rest of Keith’s day was a blur, his every thought consumed by one person’s face, and their earlier conversation.

“Perfect! Will you tutor me in Biology?”

God, why had Keith said yes? He just met this dude, and now he was going to tutor him? Keith doesn’t tutor people, as a rule. If he did that, then people would find out about the weird photographic memory thing, and then Keith would have to answer a bunch of awkward questions. Keith hated awkward questions. He thought that they came up way too often in everyday life.

But one look at that face, so sincere, almost pleading, and all thoughts of those dreaded awkward questions flew from his mind.

“Ok then.”

What had he gotten himself into?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Keith trudged through his homework, which, even with a photographic memory, still made no sense at all. He hurried through dinner with Shiro and his boyfriend, Matt, as even though he always enjoyed it when Matt was over, Keith was looking forward to something else, and he knew that Shiro and Matt would appreciate being alone as well.

Once he had eaten the last bite of dinner, Keith ran up the stairs, and grabbed his phone from where it was plugged in beside his bed. He turned it on and... no texts.

Was Keith supposed to text him first? What if Lance was busy? If Keith texted him now, would it bother him? You he think that Keith was annoying?

Wait.

Lance asked Keith to be his peer tutor, so obviously he didn’t think Keith was annoying. Scolding himself for being so silly, over some random dude, at that, Keith picked up his phone, and typed out:

[keith]- Hey Lance, this is Keith, from... the sidewalk I guess?

[lance]- Sorry, who’s Lance?

Had he given Keith the wrong number?

[lance]- There’s no Lance here, only Tonight...

Hahaha. He was a lot less awkward now, Keith noticed, than he was before, when they were face to face. Same cheesy jokes, though.

[keith]- Very funny...

[keith]- I was wondering if you had a particular schedule in mind for the tutoring,

[lance]- Ahh, the tutoring...

[lance]- Here I was thinking you were texting me for my irresistible good looks and charm

[keith]- Not going to say that wasn’t a part of it...

NO. DELETE. GO BACK. Why did he send that, why? He buried his face into his pillow, hoping that maybe if he smothered his face enough, he would fix his brain, which obviously needed some help if it thought that text would be a good idea.

[lance]- Well, that is encouraging 

[lance]- I was thinking Mondays and Thursdays at 4:00, and then Sundays at 12:00? Does that work for you?

[keith]- Sounds good, it should be good for me. Where do you want to meet?

[lance]- Would it be ok if we met at my house? I have annoying brothers and sisters I need to watch...

[lance]- They won’t bother us, I swear 

[keith]- No, that’s fine, don’t worry about it!

[keith]- How many brothers and sisters do you have? 

[lance]- 2 younger brothers, 1 older, 1 younger sister, and 2 older.

[keith]- Wow

[keith]- That’s... a lot

[lance]- Yeah... But they’re cute, so I tolerate them. They’re excited to meet you.

[keith]- They are?

[lance]- I may have told them a bit about you...

[keith]- Well then, tell them I will see them on Thursday.

[lance]- I will.

Was that the end of the conversation? It sounded like an end, and Lance wasn’t texting back...

Ding

[lance]- Goodnight...

[keith]- Goodnight.

Keith smiled fondly, and shut off his phone. Flopping his back down onto the bed, he smiled contently. Maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all...

_ _ _ _ _ _

The next few days crawled by slowly. So, so slowly. But finally, Thursday arrived. Without even needing his alarm, he sat straight up in bed, and started getting ready for the day.

Regularly, Keith hit the snooze button at least 4 times, and then took another 15 minutes to drag his ass out of bed. But today, was a complete other story.

It was as if Keith just wanted to fast forward to 4:00. That would be nice. 

A whole half hour earlier than normal, Keith raced down the stairs, and practically danced into his kitchen. He cheerfully poured himself a bowl of cereal, and promptly started shovelling it down his throat. 

Hearing footsteps, he lifts his head for a moment, only to be greeted by the sight of a bleary eyed, very surprised Shiro.

“Why are you awake? And why do you look so happy?”

“Can’t I be happy to enjoy the day?”

“You’re Keith.”

“So? Look, the birds are out singing, the sun is shining...”

“It’s a boy isn’t it.”

“What? No. Why do you assume that there’s a boy? Can’t I just enjoy life?”

“You’re Keith...” Shiro repeated slowly.

Keith rolled his eyes, and turned back to his cereal.

“Oh, and on a completely unrelated side note, I’m going out at 4:00. I’ll be home before 6:30” 

It was Shiro’s turn to roll his eyes now. 

“Alright, if you don’t want to talk about it...”

“Thank you.”

_ _ _ _ _ _

5... 4.... 3.... 2.... 1....

Rrrrrring...

Yes. A strange lightness exploded in Keith’s chest. All he had to do now was drop off his things at home, and then...

The moment he had been waiting for all week.

_ _ _ _ _

Keith stared at the address on his phone. This was it. Taking a deep breath, Keith rang the doorbell.

He heard some shuffling, and then some muffled yelling from inside. Suddenly, the door was flung open.

Lance.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this update took so long, my week has been crazy, and I really wanted this chapter to be good! I hope you like it!  
> WARNING: I don’t speak Spanish at all, but I had some friends who do speak Spanish help me out with the translations. If there is anything incorrect, let me know, and I’ll fix it! The translations will be at the end!

“Hey Keith, sorry about that, the little people are being obnoxious.” Lance said with a grin. “Come on in, I’ve occupied them for now.”

Keith grinned stupidly back at him, his brain and heart both turned to mush instantly. However, as he took his first step into the McClain household, the realization hit him that he was going to meet Lance’s family.

Oh god.

How was he supposed to do that? Keith was not at all good with kids, let alone the kid siblings of the very handsome semi-stranger that he was now tutoring. Now his brain had just become extra mush.

“Uhm, is there a place I can put... these?”  
Keith asked, gesturing vaguely to his shoes, still on his feet.

“Oh yeah, just leave them there, I can take your jacket for you!” 

Keith handed Lance his red leather jacket, and very ungracefully kicked off his shoes. He stumbled a little, only to be steadied and pushed upright again by a pair of hands that sent tingles down his spine, all the way down to his toes. 

“Careful there,” Lance chuckled, “We can’t have you getting a concussion just yet, you haven’t given me all your knowledge!”

Feeling slightly more confident, Keith curved his mouth into a cheeky smile, and said, “I’m not sure all my knowledge would fit into that brain of yours...”

Lance gasped dramatically. “Excuse YOU? I’ll have you know that my brain is quite large, thank you very much. You see, I just said ‘quite’, smart people always say quite!”

At that moment, the aforementioned ‘little people’ came running into the hallway they were standing in.

“Lance, Lance, we finished our ice cream!”

“Can we have some more?”

“Mis pequeños patitos, too much-“

“Is this Keith?”

All the children swivelled their heads to stare at Keith. Suddenly feeling very intimidated, Keith raised a hand, and said, “Hi?”

The one little girl, who had asked for more ice cream said, “Are you sure you’re Keith, because you don’t look all that adorable to me.”

“Aleja, Aleja, cállate, cállate!” Lance said loudly, steering the child away from Keith.

“I was just saying...” she pouted, sticking her feet down and refusing to let Lance push her into the next room. Lance whispered something in her ear, and suddenly her face lit up. She hopped along to stand in front of Keith one more, and stuck out her small hand. 

“I’m Aleja, and I’m sorry that I told you that you weren’t adorable.”

Keith laughed softly, and took her sticky hand gently, “Well, it’s nice to meet you Aleja. And that’s alright, you don’t have to apologize. Now I know that Lance talks about me when I’m not around.” He looked up at Lance, grinning when he saw Lance’s still tomato red face. 

“These are my brothers, André and Alexis, but they don’t matter as much as me.”

This prompted two indignant yells, and a lot of pushing. Taken aback, Keith took a couple steps backward.

Looking to Lance, he said hesitantly, “Uhh, what do I-“, but Lance was already on it.

“Hey hey hey, break it up mis pequeños patitos! You’re all important, now who wants to stop bothering me and go get some more ice cream!”

The children all cheered, and ran back into what Keith assumed was the kitchen. Sighing, Lance turned back to him. 

“Sorry about that. What did I tell you though, obnoxious.”

“No, they’re... cute.” Cute was a safe word, Keith decided. 

Lance snorted. “Yeah, right. You should have seen your face, you were terrified, standing there listening to Aleja.”

“Was not!”

“Were to!”

“Was not!” 

“To be fair to you, she scares me sometimes too.”

“Yeah, tell me about it, Mr Tomato Head.”

“Hey, it is hot in here, my face was just over heated.”

“Sure it was. I’m just flattered that you think I’m-“

Red faced once again, Lance cut him off with a loud “BIOLOGY.”

“What?”

“Hello? Failing student here?”

“Ah yes, that. I suppose we could start on that...”

“Please.”

The boys made their way over to the living room of the house, and sat down on the floor, in front of a small coffee table. Keith sat down first, legs straight out in front of him. However, the problem with the table was it was so small, that Lance was forced to sit so close to Keith that their legs were practically overlapping. 

Keith felt the heat rise to his face, and he silently prayed that Lance wouldn’t notice the tomato-esque colour of his face. 

Willing his voice not to shake, Keith said, “Let’s get started, shall we?”

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

“So basically, the nucleus is like the cell’s hard drive?”

“Yes, exactly! It stores all of the genetic information of the cell.”

“That makes so much more-“

“Holaaaa familia, estamos de vuelta en casa!”

Lance scrambled to his feet, and yelled enthusiastically, “Francisco!”

“We’re here too, Hermanito!”

“Who are you again?”

“Hey!”

A young man and two women, one of which looked very similar to Lance, walked into the room, with the little children in tow.

Lance ran over and hugged all of them exuberantly, and then looked back at Keith.

“Oh, guys, this is my friend Keith, he’s tutoring me in Biology! Keith, these are my brother and sisters, Francisco, Isa, and Maricela!”

Friend. Lance had called Keith his friend. There was a simultaneous warmth and discomfort in Keith’s stomach. 

“It’s nice to meet you all.”

Francisco walked up to Keith and patted him on the shoulder. “Thanks for tutoring Lance man, we all know he needs it.”

“Hey!”

“Dude, you would leave behind your head if it wasn’t attached to your neck.”

“Whatever, I’m doing better in school than you did.”

“Well, at least I had the good sense to drop out!”

They all laughed, and Keith stood there awkwardly, wondering what he was meant to be doing right now. 

“Now, you all have to get out, because me and Keith have stuff to do.” Lance said lightly.

“Actually, I think I should be going,” Keith said reluctantly, “it’s my turn to make dinner tonight.”

“You cook?” Lance exclaimed, surprised.

“Well, by cook, I mean order in from the sushi place on the corner of Wells and King”

“Huh, then maybe sometime I’ll have to cook for you.”

“You cook?”

“Lance makes most of the dinner in the family, we always tell him he should be a chef someday! You’re going to love his cooking.” Maricela tells Keith, as Isa winks at him from behind her.

Going red, Lance said, “Well, nice chat, but Keith has food to order, let’s go Keith.”

“Bye Keith!” The group chorused.

“Bye everyone!” Keith shouted back, as he was ushered away by Lance.

At the front door, as Keith put on his shoes, Lance leaned against the wall, and said, “I’m sorry for them. They mean well.”

“No it’s absolutely fine! It’s... nice actually. I’ve never had anything like that before.”

Before Lance could figure out what he meant by that, Keith opened the door, and said, “I’ll see you soon.”

Holy crap. After that experience, Keith was going to have to sleep for a week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Spanish translations are:  
> Mis pequeños patitos: My little Ducklings  
> Calláte: shut up  
> Holaaaa familia, estamos de vuelta en casa!: Hello family, we’re home!  
> Hermanito: Little brother


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Spanish translations will be at the end! Once again, I don’t speak Spanish, so I’m sorry if any of the sentences are in accurate. Let me know if you know how to correct them, and I will change them right away!

The rest of Lance’s week flew by in a blur of boring classes, Biology struggles, and after school jogs to try and catch at least a glimpse of a shaggy mullet, or a ridiculously bright red leather jacket. 

At his weekly Saturday night dinner, which he usually looked forward to, he found himself rushing to finish his plate.

“Mi hijo, what is the rush? Stay a while, talk with your family.” His mom chastised.

Aleja piped in with a cheeky, “He’s rushing so he can go talk to Keith.”

“I am not!” Lance said hotly. Then, under his breath, said “Aleja, shut up.”

She grinned back at him and said, “Lo siento, no entiendo lo que dices”

Lance glared furiously at the smirking child. Now, not only was the universe out to get him, but so was his little sister. That’s great.

Lance’s mother raised her eyebrows.

“Who is Keith?” She inquired, a slight smile on her face, as she observed the delighted looks on the siblings’ faces, and the equally horrified look on Lance’s face.

“Ahh, well he’s-“ Maricela started, before Lance cut her off.

“He’s a friend. He’s tutoring me in Biology... because I may or may not be failing?”

“Lance...”

“I’m really trying Mamá, that’s why I asked Keith to help me!”

“Well, where did you meet this Keith, I have never heard you mention him before. Is he a friend from school?”

“About that... we kind of met on the street last week...”

“Lance!”

“I know, I know, don’t talk to strangers, but this just happens to be a very... nice stranger!”

‘Yeah, a very nice looking stranger,’ Lance thought.

Nope. Not even going to go there.

“A very nice stranger.” His mom said skeptically. 

“Yes. He was nice, right guys?”

The majority of the comments were positive, save for Aleja’s “I think he might have something wrong with him, he looked really confused and red the whole time. Was he sick?”

“Aleja, that’s not nice!” Isa patted her shoulder.

“Actually, Lance was red too. Kind of like he is right now.”

“Ok, I’m done, Lance out. Sayonara. Adiós. Hasta la later. I’ll be in my room if anyone needs me. Please don’t need me.”

As he walked out, he heard Alexis whisper to Aleja, “Look what you’ve done now, you’ve made him grumpy!”

He wasn’t grumpy. He was just worried that if he stayed there any longer, he’d start defending Keith in ways that were not at all appropriate for the situation.

For example, how his eyes gleamed like gems in the sun, or the adorable way his stupid mullet went all fluffy and messed up in the wind, and the way it made you want to run your fingers through it and fix it...

Ok that was weird. Case in point, he left. 

Sighing loudly, and contemplating the universe’s absolute hatred of him, he flopped onto his bed. Picking up his phone off of his side table, he wondered to himself whether he should do something to take his mind off of Keith, or if he should just bite the bullet and text him. At that moment, the decision was made for him, when his phone dinged, and the name whiskers, and the very flattering picture of he did say so himself picture that he had taken of Keith. 

[whiskers] Why is my name whiskers? When did this happen.

[sir lancelot] I may have taken your phone and changed a few things...

[sir lancelot] And it’s whiskers because we agreed that you are basically the same as a very grumpy house cat!

[whiskers] WE agreed on nothing. YOU told me that I am similar to a cat, and I told you that I liked cats

[whiskers] There is a difference.

[sir lancelot] No need to squabble about the details. How is my favourite grumpy cat doing?

[sir lancelot] Better now that my words have graced your day with their presence?

[whiskers] Yes

What was Lance meant to do with that? 

[sir lancelot] Ok that’s not allowed anymore.

[whiskers] ?

[sir lancelot] That thing where you say really sweet things super seriously like you don’t even know that you’re saying them

[sir lancelot] It makes me sick

[sir lancelot] Ok That is not what I meant I meant that my sister was talking about how when you were here I was all red and she thought I was sick

Keith didn’t respond for a couple of seconds. 

‘Now you’ve done it Lance,’ he thought ‘why are you like this? You’ve screwed everything up now.’

[whiskers] If that’s sick, I think maybe I should stay away from you

[whiskers] Because every time I’m around you, I get so sick I must be dying.

[sir lancelot] You know, if you keep saying things like that, I might just have to put up with the sickness.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Ok, so here’s the thing. Lance liked sleep. And when you’re failing Biology, you don’t get a whole ton of it during the week. So, Lance usually uses his weekends to catch up on his well earned beauty sleep, because this face doesn’t just happen you know.

But unfortunately, he had suggested that they meet at the ungodly hour of 12:00 p.m. for Sunday tutoring, which meant that Lance had to set his alarm for 10:30 a.m. in order to make his hair presentable, and go through his entire skin care routine. 

So, at the stroke of 10:30, Lance’s alarm blared. And what did he do? He reached over and pressed snooze. Or, what he thought was snooze. You see, the STOP and SNOOZE buttons were right next to each other, which really wasn’t the best idea. Nonetheless, Lance did succeed in stopping the alarm, and only managed to wake up to a frowning André in front of his face, saying “Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere?”

Lance shot up and looked at the clock. 11:45. He could still make it. They were studying at Keith’s house this time, and it was only 5 minutes away from Lance’s, so that gave him... 10 minutes. 

He flew out of bed, and immediately tackled his hair, brushing if flat, and then reluctantly leaving it be. He then pulled on his clothes so fast it could be an Olympic sport, and moved on to his face. Looking sadly at the many bottles spread out in front of him, he picked out the only absolutely essential five. 

When he had finished, he let himself look at his watch. 11:56. He was a minute off schedule. With no time for breakfast, he rushed out the door, and ran for it as he simultaneously checked his phone for Keith’s address. 

Turning the last corner, he spotted the house. It was very un-Keith. Offhandedly, Lance wondered if anyone would be home when he was over. He wondered what Keith’s parents were like, if he had any siblings. He would have to ask him sometime.

Raising a hand, he took a deep breath, put a smile on his face as if he didn’t just wake up 15 minutes ago, and knocked cheerfully. Keith opened the door, and smiled, immediately making Lance’s heart beat a mile a minute. How did he always do that?

Lance took a step into the house, and kicked off his shoes, placing them next to what he recognized to be Keith’s red Converse. 

“We have the house all to ourselves,” Keith told him as they walked further into Keith’s house. “My brother won’t be home for a while, he went to get groceries. His boyfriend was with him, so god knows what they’ll come back with.” 

So... Keith’s brother was gay? He stared at Keith for a moment, trying to figure out if it ran in the family. Not that he was hoping that it did or anything.

“Are you ok?”

Oh. He was still staring.

“Uh, yeah, I’ve just never heard you mention your brother before. Is he older?”

“Yeah, 9 years.”

Lance raised his eyebrows. “Wow, that’s a large age gap. It must have been hard for your parents.”

Keith was quiet for a minute. He looked completely zoned out, his eyes unfocused and staring. 

What happened? Was he having a seizure or something? Lance started to panic, wondering what he should be doing. He never completed that first aid course his mom wanted him to take, what if Keith was epileptic and Lance didn’t know? Would Keith get brain damage? That would be just peachy, Lance goes over to a cute boy’s house and causes a seizure. Thanks universe.

Ok, slow down Lance. Let’s not jump to conclusions. Lance waved a hand in front of Keith’s face, and said his name loudly.

Apparently that was enough to snap him out of his trance or whatever.

“What just... are you ok?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
> Lo siento, no entiendo lo que dices: I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying.  
> Mi hijo: My son


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I’m going to put a slight trigger warning here, because this quite graphically describes Keith’s parents’ deaths. They died in a car crash, so if that is a possible trigger for you, it would probably be best to skip parts of this chapter.

“Wow, that’s a large age gap. It must have been hard for your parents.”

His... parents. 

Keith could hear the blood rushing in his ears, feel his heart beat rapidly, and see his vision begin to swim. He knew exactly what was happening. And he could do nothing to stop it.

Then suddenly, he was no longer in his house. He was seven years old again, sitting in his dad’s car. 

“How did you like the movie, Keith?” His dad asked

“It was really good!” He heard himself exclaim. “This was the best birthday ever!”

“I’m glad to hear it kiddo.”

“We’ll make next year even better, how does that sound?” His mom turned around and smiled at him. His mom’s smile... he felt like he wanted to cry, but he couldn’t. He was frozen in the body of the happy seven year old he had once been. He willed himself not to speak, he knew what would happen if he did.

“Good!” He chirped cheerfully. “Every birthday’s the best as long as I get to spend it with you guys!”

His dad turned around to smile at him, and that’s when everything went to hell.

A Coke delivery truck, heading the other direction, swerved to avoid a pothole, and smashed straight into the front of the Kogane’s car. 

Keith watched the glass shards fly, cutting his face and chest. He could hear his mother screaming, and could see his father being absolutely crushed by his own car. He could see the blood pouring out of his unconscious mother’s head, and the rising and falling of his father’s chest beginning to slow.

His legs were crushed under the seat in front of him, and his heart was beating out of his chest. His parents were dying, and he could do nothing. Finally, the seven year old let the tears come, so he cried, and screamed futilely for help.

What was he going to do? What could-

“...Keith? KEITH?”

He knew that voice... Lance?

He snapped back into focus, to see Lance’s face staring worriedly at him. 

“What just... are you ok?”

Unable to speak he shook his head, tears beginning to form in his eyes. 

Lance scrunched up his eyebrows, as if trying to figure out something, and then lunged at Keith, pulling him into a tight hug.

Lance was a good hugger. It seemed that the warmth Keith always felt in his stomach when he was in Lance presence, was present in Lance’s hugs as well. Keith brought his arms up to tightly squeeze Lance back, letting the tears fall from his eyes.

Lance sat him down at the table, and asked, “Do you want to talk about it?” 

Keith looked up at him. He had only known Lance for a couple of weeks, but somehow... he trusted him.

“I... don’t have any parents. Shiro isn’t my real brother, he adopted me when he was old enough to leave the orphanage.”

Lance’s eyes widened, the realization of what he had said hitting him.

“Keith, I’m so sorry... I had no idea-“

“I know, you couldn’t have known, it’s not your fault.”

Lance was quiet for a minute, and the asked, “Do you mind if I ask... what that zoning out thing was.”

Keith laughed shakily, and closed his eyes.

“Well, the thing is, I’ve got this... photographic memory, thing. I can remember every single detail of my entire life. Right down to my parents’ death.”

“Oh, Keith...”

“I guess I hadn’t thought about it for a while, I was... distracted. But then I guess it was all just piling up, waiting to unload on me.” Keith swiped at his eyes with the sleeves of his sweater.

“Here, I have tissues.” Lance reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small package. Accepting the tissues, Keith looked at Lance questioningly. 

“Biology tests are stressful, man!”

Keith laughed. How was it that Lance had managed to make Keith open up to him, and then made him laugh? This guy was definitely a wizard.

“I’m serious! Sometimes I just burst out into tears in the middle of class, and everyone is just used to it by now. They’re just like, ‘Oh, there goes Lance just hysterically sobbing again, by the way, do you remember what the right atrium does?’”

Definitely magic. Keith couldn’t stop laughing now. He didn’t know whether Lance was genuinely being funny, or if Keith was just trying to ignore the sadness building in his chest, but either way, the car sized weight on his chest was beginning to lift.

When he could bring himself to stop laughing, he said quietly, “Thank you Lance”

“What for?”

Keith smiled. “For being you.”

“Ahh, thank the universe for that. That’s what I do.”

“Well then, thanks universe.”

In a ridiculously deep voice, Lance boomed, “You’re welcome, mullet man.”

They both laughed some more. Keith realized how nice Lance really looked when he was smiling like that. Keith didn’t understand this feeling in his chest. It was no longer that heavy sinking, fearful feeling. It was lighter, lifting him up so much, he felt like he could fly. Lance noticed that Keith was staring, and began to stare back. Suddenly Keith could see all the different blues and greens dancing around in Lance’s iris. They were beautiful...

“It’s Taco Sunday boys!!!” Keith heard Matt’s loud voice filling up the house. Both of the boys’ heads shot up, as Shiro and Matt walked into the kitchen, Matt riding on Shiro’s back, holding a grocery bag over his head.

Upon seeing Lance sitting at the table next to Keith, they froze. Matt slowly slid off of Shiro’s back, and said, 

“...Hi?”

“Uh, guys, this is Lance, and this is my brother Shiro, and his boyfriend, Matt.”

Lance smiled, “Nice to meet you guys!”

How was he so calm? When Keith had met Lance’s family, he was a mess! 

“So you’re Lance, huh? You know, Keith has been very anti social lately because of you! Always running off to his phone...” Shiro said jokingly.

“Shiro!” Keith exclaimed annoyed.

Matt leaned over to Keith, and whispered in his ear, “He’s cute!”, leaned back, and winked. Winked!

Keith could feel his face becoming the colour of a tomato. Lance looked over, confused. 

Keith narrowed his eyes. “Shiro...”

“Ok, ok, we’ll leave you alone. I’ll leave the taco stuff here if you’re hungry. Let’s go Matt.”

Matt hopped back on Shiro’s back, and held up a peace sign as they exited the room.

Keith looked at Lance and rolled his eyes, as if to say ‘You see what I deal with?’.

Lance laughed, and began to open up the taco mix. 

“I don’t know about you, but I am starving.”

“You’re just going to steal my food?”

“Pretty much.”  
_ _ _ _ _ _ _

Once Lance left, Shiro and Matt returned from wherever they had hidden. 

“So... Lance.”

“No.”

“He’s-“

“Shiro.”

“Ahhhh. You’re in denial.”

“I am not in denial!”

“Ok. Whatever you say.”

“Ugh!”  
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

[sir lancelot] Keithhhhhhh

[whiskers] How may I help you sir?

[sir lancelot] Hmm, I like the sir 

[whiskers] Lance

[sir lancelot] Fineee. 

[sir lancelot] What the actual hell is a Tegmentum?

[whiskers] Ahhh

[whiskers] It’s an area inside the brain stem. It’s located between the ventricular system and distinctive basal/ventral structures on each level. It controls functions of motor movement, specifically movements of the eye, and auditory/visual processing.

[sir lancelot] English please

[whiskers] Basically it controls your movement, your actions, the way your eye moves, and the processing of the information that the brain receives from the eyes and ears.

[sir lancelot] Ahhh. Thanks man.

[whiskers] No problem

[sir lancelot] I have another question 

[whiskers] Fire away

[sir lancelot] Are you free on Friday night?

Ok, don’t freak out, it’s probably nothing. Be cool, Keith.

[whiskers] I have no social life, so yes

[whiskers] May I ask why?

[sir lancelot] Well, I was thinking, you’re pretty cool, I’m pretty cool, we should be good friends right? But I only seem to see you when I forget things at school, or when you’re tutoring me.

[sir lancelot] Soooo, I was wondering if you, would like to come to my place on Friday night for dinner? I can cook for you like I promised.

Well. Now Lance was making his heart race, and he wasn’t even there.

[whiskers] I’d like that

[sir lancelot] Good! I’m going to make you the best dinner ever!!!!!

[whiskers] Well now I have high expectations 

[sir lancelot] Then I’d better not let you down.

[sir lancelot] OH I’m going to make you watch my favourite movie as well! You’ll love it!

Keith smiled softly. What had he gotten himself into?


	8. Chapter 8

As Friday rolled around, Lance could feel the excitement, and nerves bubbling up in his chest. For one, he was going to have dinner with Keith, which he was going to count as a date, even if Keith didn’t know about that part. But Friday was also the day he was getting the results of his latest Biology test back. This would be the first test he had done since Keith had started tutoring him. He really wanted to impress Keith, to show him that he wasn’t wasting his time. Thus, the nerves.

“Ok class, I’m handing out the marked tests from last week. If I don’t give you one, come speak to me after class.”

So, of course, Lance did not receive his marked test.

“Thanks, universe.” He thought bitterly, as he walked up to the front of the class, after the bell. 

“McClain.”

“Sir.”

“Did you get that peer tutor like I asked.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Well, then I think I’d like to have a conversation with this kid.”

“Sir-“

“Because he is a miracle worker.”

“What?”

Iverson flopped the paper in front of him, to reveal an 82% in red at the top of the page.

“Is this mine?” Lance asked, shocked.

“No, it’s Hunk Garett’s. Yes, it yours.”

Lance mouth slowly curved into the biggest smile he thought that his face had ever worn. 

“You’d better thank that friend of yours, McClain.”

“I will sir! Thank you sir!”

Lance practically skipped out of the classroom, and back to his house, humming a little tune along with it. He couldn’t wait to tell Keith.   
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

From the time he got home from school, and 5:30, when Keith was arriving, Lance busied himself with the task of both making sure that the house was empty, and preparing to cook dinner. He was planning on making Keith a dish that Lance had spent years perfecting. Something that, through many failed attempts, he had just finally mastered.

Mac and Cheese.

Yes, mac and cheese. You might think, ‘Lance, even a five year old can make Macaroni and Cheese’, but boy are you wrong. Because Mac and Cheese is so common, that is exactly what made it so hard to make it absolutely perfect. Lance’s Mac and Cheese was deliciously creamy and cheesy, with the exact ratio of noodle and sauce.

Keith was going to love it.

Lance briefly wondered if Keith was the kind of person who could be won over by food, a thought that was completely unrelated to his Mac and Cheese.

Once he had convinced all the siblings to stay at Francisco’s for the night, he set about readying the materials for the best Mac and Cheese Keith will have ever eaten. Lance’s supreme Macaroni included bacon, breadcrumbs, onions, and a whole ton of different cheeses. In Lance’s expert opinion, one could never have too much cheese.

With all of his excitement and energy letting loose, he finished preparing for dinner a half hour early, and started thinking about which movie he wanted to show Keith.

It felt silly, but he really wanted the movie to be special. He wanted it to mean something to him, he wanted it to tell Keith something about him.

And suddenly, the answer came to him. He knew exactly which movie he was going to choose.  
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

At exactly 5:30, Lance heard his doorbell go, and felt his heart leap up into his throat. He hurried over to the door, paused, took a deep breath to reassure himself, and opened the door.

And Lance nearly fainted.

Because standing at his door, was Keith Kogane, holding a bouquet of roses.

Seeing Lance hyperventilate, Keith decided to offer an explanation.

“I was pretty sure... that you were supposed to bring something when you go to someone’s house, and I can’t cook... so I brought you flowers?”

Oh my god, could this boy get any cuter? He wasn’t even trying, and he had made Lance breathless.

Forcing himself out of his shock, he smiled wider than humanly possible, and thanked Keith profusely, because obviously he needed reassurance that he had done the right thing.

Case in point, the aforementioned cuteness.

Lance lead Keith inside, and gestures to a seat in the kitchen, as he scrambled to find a vase for the roses. 

“There.” He said, admiring the roses in the vase. 

“They’re beautiful.” Keith said, admiring them as well.

“Beautiful.” Lance echoed, looking at Keith.

They stared at each other for a moment, before breaking eye contact awkwardly, and looking in another direction.

“Oh!” Lance exclaimed, suddenly remembering his test from earlier.

“What?” Keith raised his eyebrows.

“Do you remember that test last week with all the stem... things?”

“Stem cells?” Keith provided, amused.

“Whatever,” Lance groaned. “Do you remember?”

“I do...”

“Well, guess who got an 82?”

“Hmmmm, that guy who sits next to you, and snores in your ear?”

“Haha very funny, smart guy. It’s me! I got an 82!”

Keith smiled one of those special smiles, that Lance had only seen a few times. They were soft, but so full of emotion that you could feel it in your heart.

“I’m proud of you Lance.”

Lance blushed and ducked his head. 

“Aww, that’s nothing compared to what I’m going to get next time!”

“Oh yeah?” Keith challenged.

“You know it.” 

He would do anything to make Keith smile like that again.  
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

With an over dramatic flourish, Lance finished off the Mac and Cheese with one of those useless fancy leaves on top.

“Aaaaand voilà! Bon appetit my friend.”

“Smells delicious.”

“It is delicious. Now eat it so I can feel validated.”

Keith laughed and took his first bite. Lance watched nervously, anticipating the verdict.

“Wow, Lance,” Keith said after he swallowed. “This is amazing! Where did you learn how to cook like this?”

“I’ve been cooking with my Mamà since I was little, and working on it on my own as well.” Lance said embarrassedly, feeling his cheeks go red. 

“Well, tell your mother that she is an excellent teacher.”

Lance grinned warmly at Keith. He then proceeded to help himself to a generous portion of the pasta.

“Well, if it’s that good, then it would be a shame if any went to waste!”

Keith laughed at him, rolling his eyes.  
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Once the boys had finished their dinner, Lance lead Keith over to his TV room, where he had their movie night set up, complete with a bowl of popcorn, and a multitude of blankets.

“Are you ready for this Keith? I don’t think you’re ready for the awesomeness of this movie.”

Smiling skeptically at Lance, he said, “Go on then, what’s your favourite movie?”

Beaming, Lance reached over the table, and grabbed the movie, flipping the cover so that Keith could see.

“Lance.”

“Yes?” Lance smiled innocently.

Beginning to dissolve into laughter, Keith questioned, “The Princess and the Frog?”

“I’ll have you know that The Princess and the Frog is a classic!” Lance cried, starting to uncontrollably laugh as well.

Once they had gotten over their fit of laughter, Lance said, “There is an actual legitimate reason that this is my favourite movie though.”

“And what might that be?”

“Well, the princess didn’t really have a lot of money, and had to work really hard for everything she had. And even though things weren’t really going her way, she kept working. And then of course, the frog prince comes around, and she gets her happy ending eventually. Not because of the prince, but because she worked so hard. So, she got the prince, and her dream restaurant.”

Keith was quiet for a minute.

“Wow.” He said finally. “I just like my favourite movie because it makes me laugh.”

“What’s your favourite movie?”

“Now I feel bad for laughing at yours.”

“Come on, what is it?”

“Sharktopus.”

Lance burst out laughing.

“What- what even is that?”

“It’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like! Half shark half octopus.”

Through the tears forming in his eyes, Lance peered up at Keith’s amused face, and said, “Oh my god, you’re serious.”

“Completely.”

“I kind of feel bad for your brother.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.”

After laughing for a good while more, they decided to finally start the movie.

Keith settled himself onto the couch, and draped a blanket across himself.

“You stole my favourite blanket.” Lance said, glaring playfully at Keith. 

Keith just raised an eyebrow, as if to say, “What are you going to do about it?”

Rolling his eyes, and saying, “You’ve left me no choice”, he snuggled himself under the blanket as well, his side pressed against Keith’s. 

They stayed like that for the entire movie, and about halfway through, Lance felt Keith’s head drop down to rest on his shoulder. He checked to see if Keith had fallen asleep, but his eyes still stared intently at the television screen.  
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

When the movie was finished, Keith yawned, and stretched his arms above his head. 

“That... was not as bad as I thought it was going to be.”

“See! A classic. What was your favourite part?”

“Probably when the princess turned into a frog as well. I was fully expecting the prince to change back.”

“When I was little I always used to wonder if I kissed a frog, if it would become a prince or not.”

“Why don’t I kiss you to find out?”

Lance freezes, and nearly chokes on a piece of popcorn. 

“I...what-why-wh-“ He sputtered

“I was calling you a frog... get it?” Keith explained, confused.

Bless his soul. He didn’t even know. Calming himself down from that near death experience, he managed an “Ahh, right! I... get it.”

Awkwardly, Keith checked his watch, and said, “Shiro will be expecting me home by now, I should go.”

“Oh! Well, hold on, I’ll give you the leftover Mac and Cheese!”

He skidded into the kitchen, and handed the plastic container to Keith. 

“My parting gift. You brought flowers, it is only fair that I send back food.”

“Ah, well thank you. This will not go to waste. I actually probably won’t even get any, Shiro will eat all of it before I even wake up tomorrow.

Lance laughed, “Well, tell him to enjoy it.”

He handed Keith his jacket as he put on his shoes, and said, “Next time, we’re watching Sharktopus. I want to see what’s so funny about a shark octopus hybrid.”

“Oh you will.”

Lance opened the door for Keith, and as Keith walked down the steps to his car, Lance called out Keith’s name.

Keith turned around and looked at him questioningly.

With a broad smile, he said, “I think if you kissed me, I would turn into the happiest prince in the world.” 

Before Keith could respond, or Lance could make more of a fool out of himself, Lance darted back inside, closing the door tightly behind him.

“Oh no,” he thought, squeezing his eyes shut in mortification. “I think I might like Keith. Thanks universe, making me go out there and say that!”

Why did the universe hate him?


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I’m so sorry, I know it’s been a million years since I last updated, but I’m going to try to update more regularly in the next few weeks, I promise!

As soon as he got home, Keith flopped into a comfortable chair, and sighed heavily.

‘Time to overthink everything that happened in the last few hours.’ He thought to himself, squeezing his eyes shut.

Then, his peaceful, introspective silence was broken by a certain annoying brother, walking into the room, and cheerfully asking, “Guess what we’re doing tomorrow night?”

“Sitting in complete silence?”

“No,” said Shiro pointedly. “We’re having dinner with Matt and Pidge. Do you remember me telling you about Pidge? They’re your age?”

“Yeah, I think you and Matt mentioned them once. Why is it that I have to be present at this dinner? Maybe I have plans!”

“Do you?”

“No, but it would have been nice for you to ask.”

Shiro rolled his eyes. “You can bring a friend if you want.”

“I thought that you were insinuating that I don’t have friends.”

“Well, I know that you have one... I believe he’s the one who you’ve been texting every night consistently?”

Keith glared at his brother for a while, until he finally relented.

“Fine. I’ll ask him.”

“Great!” Shiro beamed as he walked out of the room. “Goodnight!”

This time it was Keith’s turn to roll his eyes. However, after a moment, he found himself pulling out his phone to text Lance.

[whiskers] are you free tomorrow night   
[sir lancelot] well, someone’s impatient!! you just left my house! ;)  
[whiskers] my brother’s boyfriend and their sibling are coming over for dinner tomorrow, and I’m not good at interacting with new people, so I wanted you to come with me  
[whiskers] if you want  
[sir lancelot] I would love to  
[sir lancelot] give me the details tomorrow. now, go to sleep, you weirdo!  
[whiskers] goodnight   
[sir lancelot] ‘night  
  
_ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Keith, they’re going to be here soon, get up!”

Oh, what a wonderful nap he was having. There was this odd dream, where he was walking to a coffee shop, and some how he knew he was on a date, and then, for some reason, the only person he saw in the shop was...

Lance.

Huh. That was a weird dream!

“Keith!”

He snapped back to reality.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” He grumbled back.

Just then he heard to door bell ring, followed by Shiro’s footsteps thundering down the stairs.

He then heard the faint murmur of voices, and then Shiro calling, “Keith! Your friend is here!”

Lance was here. And he was talking to Shiro.

Lance was here, and he was talking to Shiro.

Keith leapt out of his bed, and ran toward the stairs.

In hindsight, he should have known how that would have turned out. But, he had just woken up from a nap, and his brain was all fuzzy, alright?

Keith attempted to hurriedly fly down the stairs, but really ended up with his foot getting caught on the step, and landing flat on his face, right in front of Lance.

That’s great. Thanks, universe.

Reluctantly, he pulled his face off the ground, and looked up at Lance sheepishly.

“Uh, hi?”

The corners of his mouth began to twitch, and with a sudden burst of sound, he started laughing hysterically, Shiro soon joining in.

“Yeah guys, I’m fine, really, thanks for your concern.”

“Awww Keith, no problem!”

Picking himself up off the ground, he glared at both of the traitors. He stood with his arms crossed, still glaring for a moment, and then sighed.

“Come on, let’s sit down and wait for Matt to get here.”

The three boys made their way to the sitting room, and Lance began filling the uncomfortable silence.

“So, I met Matt, right?”

“Yeah, when you were over to study the first time.”

“Oh yeah, I remember! What did you say his sibling’s name was again?”

“I don’t think I actually mentioned it to you, their name is Pidge.”

“What?”

“Pidge.”

“As in Pidge Holt?”

“Uh, yeah, how did you-“

Keith was cut off by the sound of the doorbell ringing.

Shiro jumped up, “I’ve got it!”

Keith and Lance stood up as well, and went to meet their guests.

Shiro flung the door open and cried, “Matt!”

Matt launched himself into a hug and cried back, “Shiro!”

Honestly, it was like they hadn’t seen each other in months, when Keith had on good authority that they had studied together just yesterday, and talked on the phone that very same day.

“Hey Keith, how’s it going?”

“Pretty well. You met Lance, right?”

“Ah yes, I do remember him. But, you haven’t met my lovely guest!” Matt waved his arms around dramatically, and gestures to his companion. “Pidge!”

Pidge was small, even though Shiro had said that they were his age, and they had large circular glasses perched on their nose.

“Well, hello Lance,” they smirked. Keith was confused. Did they know each other?   
“Long time no see!”

Lance turned to Keith and exclaimed, “You didn’t tell me that the sibling was Pidge Holt!”

“Do you know them?”

“Yeah, Lance is my buddy!” They cried, stepping further into the house. “Although, I do admit, I’m a little surprised to see him here. I’m pretty sure Hunk and I are his only friends.”

“Not true!”

“Oh, you’re right, I guess Keith must be your friend too.”

“Nope. I’ve defriended him. He laughed when I fell down the stairs.” Keith smiled at the betrayed look on Lance’s face.

“It was funny!”

“Such a terrible friend!”

“I know, right!”  
_____________________________________________

Eventually, after many confused minutes, Keith came to the realization that Lance and Pidge were actually friends, and just greatly enjoyed annoying each other.

Taking a bite of their spaghetti, Pidge asked, “So Keith, you’ve been tutoring Lance, right?”

“Yeah, in Biology. He was failing.”

“I was not failing!”

Keith raised his eyebrows.

“Ok, maybe a little.”

“And how did you two meet? Keith goes to a different school, right?”

“Oh yeah, Lance and I ran into each other, literally, as he was running home. He told me his name was Tonight, and I decided that he was the weirdest person I’ve ever met.”

“Hey!”

“Tonight?” Pidge laughed questioningly.

“Yeah, he said, ‘Hey, the name’s Lance McClain, but you can call me Tonight.’ I still don’t understand it.”

Pidge burst out in uncontrollable laughter.

“It means-“

“IT’S MY NICKNAME. Uh... Hunk came up with it.”

“If you say so.”

Keith was confused. He still didn’t know what was going on.

“So Keith, do you want to hear some funny stories about Lance?”  
___________________________________________  
By the end of the night, Keith was actually sorry to see Pidge go. He had never connected so well with a stranger before. He briefly wondered if Lance had anything to do with it.

“Hasta la vista people!” Matt called over his shoulder, as he and Pidge walked out the door.

“Bye!” Keith, Lance and Shiro chorused. Shiro then left to clean up in the kitchen, leaving Keith and Lance alone.

“I guess I’d better get going.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

They stood in silence for a moment, just enjoying the other’s presence for a little longer.

Finally, Lance broke the silence.

“Tonight. It isn’t actually my nickname.”

“It... isn’t?”

“Uh, no,” Lance looked down, and rubbed the back of his neck. “It... it was a line. Like, a pick up line? You know, call me tonight?”

Oh. Keith could feel his face burning red. How did he not get that?

“That... makes a lot of sense. Sorry I didn’t get it.”

“No, no, that’s ok.”

This time their silence was less comfortable, and more awkward, what-do-I-say-now silence.

“Uh, yeah, I’ll just go now.”

As Lance walked out the door, Keith heard himself calling, “Lance!”

Lance turned around, and raised his eyebrows.

“If I had gotten it... I would have called you.”

After that sudden moment of courage, Keith proceeded to slam the door shut in Lance’s face.

Yeah. That’s great.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! Hope this makes up for it!

“If I had gotten it... I would have called you.”

What did that mean? Did Keith like him?  
Did he like Keith? Was he making a huge deal out of nothing?

Lance walked home in a daze, not even registering the direction he was going. His mind was completely focused on Keith, and the events of that night.

Sure, he’d always thought that Keith was attractive (he’s pretty sure he’d used the word ‘god-like’ to describe him), but did he _like him_?

What did he even know about Keith? He had a mullet, he was half Korean, he had a photographic memory, he was an orphan. He loved his fingerless gloves, his red Converse, the colour red, and sunsets. His hair was thick and fluffy, and sometimes it fell in his eyes, and made Lance want to brush it away. His eyes were deep purple, but they sparkled like light bouncing off of the ocean when he laughed. His laugh was rare, but when you did hear it, it was the most amazing thing ever. Loud, and breathless, it made him bend over and clutch his stomach, and sometimes, very rarely, he’d get little tears in the corners of his eyes. But most of all, Keith was the most caring and loyal person Lance had ever met.

Oh shit. He did like Keith.

‘Thanks universe,’ Lance thought bitterly. ‘Making me fall for this beautiful boy who will never like me back, and to be honest is probably straight.’

But then again... Keith had said that he would call him. That had to mean something! Now Lance was thoroughly confused. There was only thing to do.

He had to consult his best friend, the only person he could trust with this information.

Hunk Garrett.

———————————————-

The next day, at the lunch break during school, Lance looked everywhere for Hunk, until he finally found him, playing computer games in the school lab.

“Hunk, my man, Lancey Lance has got a problem.” Lance stated melodramatically, flopping into the chair beside Hunk.

Pausing his game like the pure, loyal friend he was, Hunk turned to Lance and said, “What’s up buddy?”

“I’ve got... _feelings_.”

“Um, you’re going to have to be a bit more specific there, Lance.” Hunk said, raising an eyebrow.

“Ok, so remember when I told you I had to find a peer tutor, and Pidge said no? Well, then I met this guy, he is beautiful Hunk, he is actually a god, but that’s not the point. He’s really adorable and funny, and smart, and I don’t know what to do, because I think I like him, but I don’t know if he likes me back! And if I tell him, I could mess everything up, I really like being friends with him!”

“Wow. You’re figuring all this out now? So close to exams?”

“Yeah, I didn’t even study last night, I stayed up all night thinking about it!”

“That’s really not good Lance, you really need to do well on your exams, especially Bio. What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know! That’s why I’m here, I need your advice!”

“Well, I may have a way to kill two birds with one stone. I really do think you should tell him, and if he’s as sweet as you say he is, then even if he doesn’t like you back, you’ll still be friends. But, I think that it’s really not good to be this stressed out right before exams, so here’s what I’m thinking. You wait until exams are over, and when you get your final Biology mark back, and it’s amazing, the guy will be super proud of you already, and you should tell him then.”

“But what if it’s not amazing?”

“Well that’s the killing two birds with one stone bit. If you can only tell him if you do amazing, you’re going to want to study more, so that you do well.”

“My friend, you are a genius!”

“I know.” Hunk says, flipping his non existent long hair, as the bell rings.

“I should go, thank you so much!”

“Anytime, buddy.”

—————————————

[sir lancelot] UGHHHHHHH

[whiskers] what’s up?

[sir lancelot] Bio wants me to die. It’s actually going to kill me.

[whiskers] you need a break?

[sir lancelot] what do you have in mind?

[whiskers] there’s a fair at the local arena tomorrow, we could go if you wanted?

[sir lancelot] wow. that’s surprising

[whiskers] what?

[sir lancelot] I just didn’t peg you for the fair type is all

[whiskers] I just thought you might like it. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.

[sir lancelot] no way, I’m coming! WhT time is it?

[whiskers] I’ll pick you up at 1:00?

[sir lancelot] perfect.

——————————-

Lance’s doorbell rang at exactly 1:00 on the dot.

“You ready?”

“You know it. I’m going to kick your ass at all of the games.”

“Ohhh, we’ll see about that.” Lance smirked.

By the time they arrived, the fair was in full swing. People were milling around looking at all of the food stalls, and playing games.

“Where to first?” Keith asked, turning to him.

“Hmmmm,” Lance pondered. He quickly turned in his place, scanning the entirety of the fair.

“There!” Lance exclaimed, pointing to a small ride called the ‘Vortex’.

“Really?” Keith asked, wrinkling his nose.

“Yes!” Lance cried, grabbing Keith wrist, and dragging him along. Keith squeaked in surprise, which for some reason made Lance very happy.

“Two please!” He said to the ride operator, holding up two fingers.

They were let on immediately, and Lance ran to the blue cart, shaped like an airplane.

“I think the red one would be better Lance.” Keith said dubiously, looking down at the sky blue plane.

“Keith, they are literally all the same, just get in!”

“Fine.” Keith rolled his eyes and stepped into the cart.

When he sat down, Lance realized how tiny the seats were. Keith’s thighs were pressed up right against his, and their shoulders were bumping against the other’s constantly. Lance felt his face go red, and when he looked up, he could see the colour mirrored in Keith’s own cheeks.

But, before he had any time to dwell on that, the ride started with a jerk, spinning the boys around and around. Lance looked over at Keith, and nearly had a heart attack. Somehow, he managed to look even more flawless than he was before. His cheeks were still flushed, his hair was billowing around his face like a dark halo, and his face was screwed up against the wind, his mouth wide open in silent laughter, and his eyes squeezed shut.

Before Lance knew it, the ride was over, and Keith was dragging him off.

“Where to now? It’s your pick.” Lance said, turning around to Keith. But Keith wasn’t listening.

He was staring up in awe at the prizes of the game in front of them. Right in the middle, was a giant stuffed pink hippo.

Sidling up next to him, Lance asked, “Do you want that?”

Looking panicked for a moment, Keith sputtered, “What? Me? No! No way!”

“Oh well, I’m going to win it to give to you anyway. And lucky for you, it’s a shooting game! When I was younger, I used to love paintball. My friends used to call me ‘The Sharpshooter.’”

When Keith raised his eyebrows skeptically, Lance relented.

“Fine, I called myself that, and hoped that it would catch on. Anyway that’s not the point! The point is, that I’m going to win that gigantic hippo for you! And you’re going to like it!”

With that, Lance grabbed at Keith’s wrist again, to drag him to the booth. However, in the excitement, his hand missed, and ended up grabbing Keith’s hand instead.

Lance’s eyes flew wide open, and he stopped walking. But Keith, didn’t seem to notice any difference, and kept walking. So Lance, with his face as red as a tomato, stepped forward to the game. When it came time for him to grab the gun, he reluctantly slipped his hand out of Keith’s own very warm one.

The man running the game told him he could start, so Lance slowly lifted the gun’s sights up to his eye. He took a deep breath, steadied his hands, and thought ‘ _I am going to win this for Keith_.’

And then he took the shots. Five shots in a row, all landing perfectly in the bullseye.

Lance set the gun down, threw his hands in the air, and cheered loudly. From beside him, Keith was clapping wildly, and grinning so wide that it looked like it might be hurting him. Lance actually had to look away, or he might have let something slip.

The man pointed to the top row of prizes, and asked Lance which one he wanted. Excitedly, Lance made eye contact with Keith, and pointed to the large pink hippo.

The man took down the hippo and handed it to Lance, who then handed it to Keith with a flourish.

“For you sir.”

Instead of taking the hippo right away, Keith pulled Lance to his feet, and enveloped him in a big hug. They stood like that for a while, until Keith finally whispered “Thank you.”

When they pulled away, Keith took the hippo into his arms as well, and squeezed it tight. Lance wondered if Keith could have felt his heart beating out of his chest when they hugged. Lance really wanted to tell him how he felt. He could feel the tug on his heart urging him to say it. But he couldn’t. Not until he aced Biology, he insisted to himself.

Breaking Lance out of his worries, Keith asked, “It’s your turn to pick where we go next.”

“Hmm, well I don’t know about you, but I am starving. Want to get something to eat?”

“Oh good, I was hoping you’d say that.” Keith laughed.

————————————

They ended up eating deep fried pizza (yes, _deep fried pizza_ ) at one of the food stalls. It was disgusting, but they ate it anyway, and decided to take the chance to just talk. About Lance’s upcoming exams, about what music they liked (Keith was, unsurprisingly into really emo music), about everything, and nothing, somehow.

By the time they left the fair, and Lance had dropped Keith and his new hippo off at his house, Lance was exhausted. But it was the nice kind of exhausted, the one you get from running around with friends all day, from your heart feeling so full that it could explode.

Nevertheless, Lance jumped into bed immediately when he got home, and fell asleep to the image of Keith’s shining smile when Lance gave him the hippo.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just feel like I should put a couple of warnings before this chapter. The content might be upsetting for some people, so if subjects dealing with anxiety cause you discomfort, just know that it is in this chapter. Also, towards the end, there is some descriptive violence/blood, so if that disturbs you, I just thought I’d let you know.

Today was the day. The climax of Lance’s life so far. Everything that he had worked so hard for during the past year was all leading to this day.

But no pressure, right?

As soon as he arrived at the school, he rushed to the library to get in some last minute cramming. He flipped through his notes frantically, searching for anything he may have missed.

Lance had never wanted something so much before. He could feel how much he wanted it, so much that his chest physically hurt. There was just so much riding on this one exam. His final grade, his parents’ approval, Keith’s approval, telling Keith how he felt...

So maybe there was some pressure.

_‘Damn it, how does Binomial Nomenclature work again?’_ Lance worried.

Why could he suddenly not remember anything? He had studied so hard, so why was this happening now?

Lance felt the library walls closing in around him. Tears welled up in his eyes and blurred the words in front of him. He needed to go, he needed to leave, he needed to run, he needed to do something.

He slammed his book shut, threw it on the chair beside him, and walked as fast as he could to the section of the library he knew for sure nobody ever visited: Palaeontology. He fell to the ground, albeit dramatically, and covered his face with his hands. He was going to fail this exam, he was never going to get into university, his parents would disown him, and Keith would never know how he felt.

Keith... Keith!

Lance desperately rummaged through his pocket for his phone, and clicked on to Keith’s contact. He hit call.

_Ring, ring..._

“Hello? Lance? What’s up, aren’t you supposed to be in your exam?”

His voice thick and wavering with tears, he replied quietly, “It’s not for another hour.”

“Hey, what’s wrong? Are you worrying about the exam?”

“Yeah,” Lance choked out. “I got here and I suddenly couldn’t remember anything.”

“I know for a fact that it’s just because you’re working yourself up. You know this man!”

“No I don’t, I can’t do this, I can’t remember anything! I’m not like you Keith, stuff doesn’t just stick in my head. It flies out! It leaves, and I’m going to fail!”

“No. You’re not. I know you’re not, because you’re right, stuff does ‘stick in my head’, so I remember every little moment of you studying, and I know that you know what you’re doing! I quizzed you millions of times, we did multiple practice exams, and you aced them all! You have nothing to be worried about!”

Lance was silent for a moment.

He sniffled, and then added softly, “What if I can’t do it without you there?”

“Just imagine I am there. Pretend it’s just one of our practice exams. I’ll be right there beside you if you need help. You’ve got this buddy. Now go destroy that exam!”

Lance laughed a little, and dried his eyes.

“Ok. I’ll text you when I’m done.”

“You’d better.”

Lance felt much better now. He composed himself, stood up, and walked proudly out of the Palaeontology section, as if he were just reading about fossils.

When he returned to his former place in the library, Hunk and Pidge were there waiting for him.

“Hey man, where were you? We were starting to get worried!”

“Nah, I’m alright, just stressing a bit. But I talked to Keith, and he calmed me down.”

“Ahh,” Hunk and Pidge whispered in unison. “Keith.”

“Ugh, let’s not talk about that now?”

“Ok fine,” Pidge relented. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be, I guess.” Lance sighed.

“You’re going to do great man. You’ve worked so hard for this. Believe me hard work always pays off. Even if not always in the way you expect it to.” Hunk reassures him.

“Yeah, we know you’ve got this Lance. After that last test you got, we know you’re golden.” Pidge chimes in.

“Thanks guys,” Lance smiles. “You’re the best.”

Then, the bell went off, signalling that all students were to head to the exam rooms.

Turning to his friends, Lance said, “Let the battle begin.”

_____________________________________

And the exam was a battle indeed.

By the time it was over, Lance was completely exhausted. He immediately went home, and flopped onto his bed.

But before he could sleep, he remembered blearily, he had to text Keith.

He pulled out his phone, but before he had a chance to start typing, Keith had already texted him.

[whiskers] so????????????

[sir lancelot] so what?

[whiskers] don’t be obnoxious, you know what I meant!!!!

[sir lancelot] okok someone’s tense!

[sir lancelot] I think it went alright. It was really hard, I almost didn’t finish. But I did manage to get everything down, so that’s something.

[whiskers] good! That’s really good! I’m really proud of you Lance, you’ve come so far from where you were in the beginning of the semester. No matter what your mark is, you did great.

[sir lancelot] awww keith has feelings!!

[whiskers] shut up, I’m trying to have a bonding moment here!

[sir lancelot] nooooooope not happening!

[sir lancelot] but seriously, thanks man. for everything.

[whiskers] Anytime.

______________________________________

The next day was Exam Review day.

Lance was so nervous, that he felt sick. This was a different kind of nervous from exam day. Then, he could have changed his fate if he had done something differently. But now, there was nothing he could do to change his mark. It was set. He sat in his Biology classroom for the very last time, and listened to Mr. Iverson call out names. As expected, his was last. Iverson wanted to talk to him.

Lance felt the pit in his stomach fill up with dread, as he walked slowly up to Iverson’s desk.

“McClain.”

“Yes sir?”

“I just want you to know, that I’m very proud of you. You worked really hard this year.”

“Thank you sir, but can I please see my mark now.”

Iverson chuckled. “Sure.”

He flipped over the exam in front of him, and the red ink read...

93%.

Lance blinked a couple of times, giving his brain a moment to recover.

_‘What? A 93? What is happening? Thank you, universe!’_

He suddenly felt elated warmth spread throughout his body. He laughed incredulously.

“Thank you sir!” Lance yelled behind him as he sprinted out of the classroom.

He ran through the halls of his high school whooping and cheering, no longer caring who saw him.

Because he got a 93 on his exam, and he was going to tell Keith how he felt. How he wanted to hold his hand, and hug him every day, and go out on a million dates. He already had some planned. Their first was going to be laser tag.

Lance yanked open his car door, and launched himself into the seat. He hummed a tune to himself as he turned out of the school parking lot. He turned onto a sideroad, and heard his cellphone ding.

Lance quickly looked down when he was at a red light.

[whiskers] how did it go?????

[sir lancelot] I’ll be there soon. Hint: it’s good news

[sir lancelot] there’s also something important I need to tell you.

The light turned green, and Lance turned off his phone. After what felt like forever, he pulled into Keith’s driveway. Before Lance even made it to the door, Keith ran outside, wearing no shoes, to yell “What happened?!”

Smirking, Lance walked up to him, and said, “So impatient! You’re not even going to invite me in first?”

“Lance!”

“Alright, alright!” Lance dig through his bag, and pulled out the exam, holding it over his head triumphantly.

This was mostly him just being annoying, but it was an added bonus to see Keith trying to stand on his toes in order to see the mark. Taking pity, Lance lowered the sheet.

When Keith saw the mark, his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. The threw his arms up in the air and cheered loudly, not caring if the neighbours could hear him.

Then, Keith flung his arms around Lance’s neck into a tight hug.

“I knew you could do it!” Keith said. Lance could feel the hum of his vocal chords against his shoulder.

Keith pulled back slightly, but kept his arms around Lance’s neck. Lance drank in the smooth purple of his eyes, and the thick, long eyelashes that framed them. Lance briefly wondered if he wore mascara. There was no way eyelashes like that were natural.

Lance could feel Keith’s warm breath fanning his face, and thought, ‘ _Should I kiss him?_ ’

But before he got the chance, there was a yell from inside, “Keith, shut the door, you’re letting bugs in!”

Keith pulled away completely to shut the door, out some shoes on, and say goodbye to Shiro, leaving Lance to curse himself for not being faster.

“Alright, let’s go for your celebratory lunch, at the restaurant of your choice! Where are we going?”

Lance thought for a moment. “That sushi place by the school!”

“Alright, ‘that sushi place by the school’ it is!”

______________________________________

They hopped in the car, and sat in silence for a while, Lance letting Keith focus on turning out of the driveway, something he still struggled with.

However, once they had successfully gotten out, and had turned onto the road adjacent to Keith’s, Keith broke the silence with, “Oh yeah, you said you wanted to talk to me about something earlier, right?”

“Uhm, yeah, I did. I guess now is as good a time as any to do this.” He laughed nervously.

“God, this is really hard to say,” Lance said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Just give me a second.”

“Hey,” Keith turned to Lance. “You can talk to me about anything, you know that.”

“Ok,” Lance took a deep breath. “I-“

_**CRASH** _

Time moved in slow motion. A white FedEx van slipped on a patch of mud, and spun directly into Keith’s red pickup. The car flipped through the air landing on it’s roof, with a deafening crunch. Shards of glass flew through the air, cutting the boys’ faces, and bodies, painting the leather seats blood red.

Lance felt himself lifted out of his seat, slamming into the seatbelt, and then being flung backward, his neck whipping sideways violently. His arm was forcefully pushed to the side, bending at an unnatural angle around the back of the seat.

Keith’s airbag went off, puffing into his face, and shoving him backwards, but Lance’s was nowhere to be seen. The boy pitched forward, the top of his head making contact with the cracked windshield, eliciting a sickening _thunk_.

And then everything went black.

_______________________________________

After what felt like forever, the silence was broken. Keith came to consciousness, and blinked his eyes slowly. He was dimly aware of something hot running down the side of his face. Upon touching it gently, he realized that his face had been covered in blood.

What happened? Was the blood his?

Keith looked around, and everything came flooding back to him.

Flashes of memory, turning to Lance, the crash of metal hitting metal, the flying glass... Lance.

Where was he? Keith scanned the wreckage, distressed. There he was.

Lance’s bloodied head was leaned against the window, with a smear of red trailing it.

Tears filled Keith’s eyes, as what had just happened fully hit him. He had crashed the car. And suddenly, it was his seventh birthday all over again. Except this time, he didn’t kill his parents, he killed Lance.

‘ _No. NO. Lance is NOT dead_.’ Keith told himself. He tried wriggling out of his seat, but the car was crushed, trapping him in his seat.

What was he supposed to do? He was completely helpless, completely alone, and worst of all, he couldn’t do anything to help Lance.

Then he remembered. He had been hit by a truck. And if there was a truck... there was a driver.

“Hey! HEY! Can anybody hear me?! My friend needs help! Please, can anybody hear me?!”

Just then, a tall man came into Keith’s vision.

“Holy shit, are you guys alright?”

Keith heard himself croak out, “Please sir, my friend... he’s really hurt, please help him.”

“Of course. I’ve already called an ambulance, they’re on their way.”

The man made his way over to Lance’s side of the car. He placed two fingers on Lance’s neck, and paused.

“I think I feel a pulse! It’s faint, but it’s there!”

‘ _He’s not dead._ ’ Keith said to himself, repeating it over in his head.

‘ _He’s not dead._ ’

‘ _He’s... not... dead.’_

_‘He’s... not’_

The last thing Keith remembered was the flashing red and blue of the ambulances. All he could think about was Lance.   
  
_‘He’d better not die...’_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, sorry for the cliffhanger! This chapter was a roller coaster to write, let me tell you. Anyway, this note is just a reminder to always pay attention when driving. Always keep your eyes on the road! Even if you don’t drive, be carful not to distract the driver in any way, because it could have severe consequences for both you, and the people around you. So yeah, that was my mini PSA. The next chapter will be up soon!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah guys. This is the last chapter. It’s been so wonderful writing this story, and I want you all to know how much your support means to me. You guys are amazing!! <3

Red used to be Keith’s favourite colour.

But now, it swam before his eyes, where ever he looked, he saw red. It made him feel sick. Flashes of a red pickup, opaque crimson on clear glass, scarlet painting black leather, like a movie playing out beneath his eyelids.

He begged himself to stop, but the images continued like a river of acrid red threatening to overflow.

Keith saw his arm, clad in his favourite red leather jacket, flying through the air in front of his face, attempting to shield himself from the jagged shards of glass hurtling towards his face.

He saw Lance, with blood dripping from his forehead and mouth, his beautiful face contorted into a pained shriek, as the cardinal red truck flipped into a ditch.

_Lance..._

Keith’s eyes snapped open, and suddenly the overwhelming red was replaced with blinding white.

He blinked his eyes a couple times, and a pristine hospital room came into focus. Keith looked around wildly, and grabbed at the many tubes and needles attached to him. He had to find Lance.

But then a strong hand grabbed his wrists, forcing them away from the medical equipment.

Shiro smiled down at him, visibly relieved.

“You’re awake!” Shiro exclaimed, bringing him into a hug.

“Lance.” Keith slurred incoherently.

“What?” Shiro asked, pulling away.

“Where’s Lance,” Keith demanded, his voice growing stronger. “I need to find Lance.”

“Hey, it’s okay, Lance is here, his family is here for him, just relax, okay?”

“No, no,” Keith struggled, “I need to see him.”

“You need to rest!” Shiro exclaimed, his voice reverberating through the silent room.

The brothers stared each other down for a minute, until Keith relented.

“Is Lance... Is he...?”

“He’s... alive.”

“Alive? What does that mean? Shiro, what happened?”

“The doctors ran some tests, and Lance wasn’t responding to stimuli.”

“Well, what does that mean?” Keith whispered, tears pooling in the corners of his eyes.

“Keith. This doesn’t mean that we should lose hope, there’s a chance-“

“Shiro, just tell me what it means!” Keith yelled, tears spilling onto his cheeks, and splashing onto his shirt.

Shiro sighed. “Lance is in a coma. They’re not sure if he’s going to wake up.”

A coma.

This was all Keith’s fault. He had been driving the car, he had been distracted, he had put Lance into a coma.

Land had a family, a huge family, and probably a ton of friends. Now he might never see them again, and it was all Keith’s fault.

Keith’s breathing started to quicken, as the tears fell faster and faster. He could vaguely hear the heart monitor beeping beside him, but it was quickly drowned out by the roaring in his ears, screaming at him that he had put Lance McClain into a coma, and that it was him that should be in one instead.

Keith could see Lance’s face, clouding his vision. The sparkle in his eyes, cheeks flushed with pure happiness, the smile that was so wide that you could see all of his teeth. Keith wanted so desperately to see that again, to hear his laugh, to hear his insult his mullet just one more time.

Keith’s thoughts spiralled further down into his own mind until he heard a click from the door.

His head whipped up, to see Matt walking through the door, with a bag from McDonald’s in his hands. Keith didn’t know what he was expecting, but he slumped down dejectedly, staring at his hands.

“Hey, you’re awake! You had us real worried! Shiro was losing it!”

Keith grinned a little at that.

“Aw, I knew you cared!”

“Yeah, whatever, I was more angry that you crashed my car.”

But, when Keith looked up, Matt was shaking his head, and mouthing ‘lies’.

Keith snickered a little.

“Who wants McDonalds?”Matt asked, holding up the bag.

He distributed the food among the three, having to split some of his, as he hadn’t known that Keith would be awake.

They ate their meals in silence, and once they were done, Keith decided to ask quietly, “Can I see Lance?”

Shiro looked at him sadly for a minute.

“I don’t know, buddy... why don’t we ask the nurse, he’s meant to be coming around in a bit.”

Sure enough, the nurse came around to check on Keith within 5 minutes.

“Ah, someone woke up!” The nurse exclaimed, walking to the side of Keith’s bed.

“I’m Dr Santiago, I’ve been taking care of you while you’ve been here. It’s good to see you awake!” He said, holding out his hand.

Keith hesitantly, reaches out, and shook it.

“Keith.”

“Nice to meet you Keith.” Dr Santiago smiled, turning to the monitor.

“It’s looking like everything’s good so far, obviously I’m going to have you stay for a while longer, but it’s looking like you’ll be having a speedy recovery!”

“Does that mean I can get up and walk around?” Keith inquired hopefully.

“Hm, depends. What do you have in mind?”

“My friend, who was in the car with me, he’s in a coma now? I really need to see him.”

The nurse smiled softly, almost pityingly.

“You know what, I’ll see what I can do. I’m sure I can find you a wheelchair, and if I go with you, I think you should be fine.”

Keith smiled widely.

“Thank you.”

“Anytime. Now, I’ll be right back, I’m just going to find you that wheelchair.”

He was gone for a few minutes, but came back wheeling in the chair triumphantly.

“Alright, Shiro, you want to help me lift him in?”

“Whoa, wait a-“

Despite his protests, Keith was lifted into the wheelchair.

“Alright, now he’s room 230, so he’s just a few doors down.” The nurse told him, as they wheeled along the hallway.

They came to a stop outside a room with the number 230 painted in gold. Dr Santiago knocked twice, and waited for a response.

“Come in!” A voice answered, muffled by the door.

The nurse opened the door, and Keith was wheeled in. He felt the heat from the gazes of all the people he had hurt.

An older man and woman stood by Lance’s head, the woman stroking Lance’s hair. Keith assumed they must be Lance’s parents.

Then he saw Francisco, Isa, and Maricela, seated beside the bed, Isa holding Lance’s hand.

But what hurt him the most, was the tearstained faces of Alexis, André, and Aleja. The last time Keith had seen them, they had been so lively, so energetic, their smiles bright and infectious.

Now, even spunky Aleja had fallen silent.

Now his heart was in his throat, choking his breaths, and his words fell flat on his lips.

Keith braced himself for the wave of anger about to hit him. He could only imagine how these people must be feeling.

Here was this boy, who was supposed to be their brother and son’s friend, this boy who almost killed him, and quite possibly took him away forever. And here he was, standing at the door, wanting to see Lance.

If Keith were in that position, he would be furious. He would scream. He would cry. He would probably throw things.

So, he was fully expecting all those things and more to happen. He knew he deserves it. He had hurt this wonderful, beautiful family. He had hurt Lance.

But what he wasn’t expecting, was for little Aleja’s eyes to light up, and yell,   
“Keith!”

Francisco stood up, and said, “Hey Keith, glad to see you’re awake. We were just talking about going to visit you. How are you feeling man, that was one nasty crash.”

“Oh Keith, we were so worried!” Isa exclaimed from beside him.

They... weren’t mad?

“Wha- I- you were?” Keith stuttered.

“Of course we were! Lance cares about you a lot. Most of the time, you’re all he talks about. You and your ‘mullet’.” Maricela chimed in.

Then, Lance’s mom stood up. She and Lance’s father walked over to Keith in the longest few seconds of Keith’s life.

“So, you’re Keith?” Lance’s mother looks him straight in the eye, not giving away any emotions.

“I- yes I am.” Keith tried to keep his voice steady.

There was silence for a moment. Keith could feel the tension in the air, seeping into his chest, and constricting his breath.

But to his surprise, without a word, Mrs. McClain pulled him into a hug.

He didn’t know how to react at first. His body went rigid. But within seconds, he found himself relaxing his muscles, and wrapping his arms around her back.

Keith hadn’t been hugged like this for a long time. Sure, he had been hugged before, but this, this was a hug that was so distinctly motherly. His chest tightened, as he remembered his own mothers hugs. They had been just like this.

All too soon, the hug was over, and Mrs. McClain pulled back.

“Thank you.”

She was thanking him? What?

“I’m sorry, but I don’t really understand. What exactly are you thanking me for? This whole _situation_ is my fault.”

The corners of Mrs. McClain’s mouth turned down.

“Keith, you should not blame yourself. A terrible thing happened. But did you intend for Lance to be injured?”

“Well, no-“

“Then? Look Keith, we were angry at first, but it is not productive, nor what Lance would want. And he would certainly not want you to be blaming yourself. Now, I was thanking you for being such a wonderful friend to my Lance. I haven’t seen him so happy in a very long time.”

Keith’s chest warmed, and his heart dislodged itself from his throat, and returned to where it was meant to stay.

“Well, I haven’t been happier for a very long time either.”

Mrs. McClain smiled softly, and asked the nurse to wheel Keith over to Lance’s bedside.

Lance’s face was pale, and devoid of the life that Keith had loved to look at so much. If he didn’t know otherwise, he would have thought that this wasn’t Lance.

The nurse tapped Keith on the shoulder, breaking him out of his thoughts.

“I have some other patients to check on, Would it be alright if I left you here?”

Keith nodded quickly, feeling rather relieved to be free of the nurse’s presence.

“Just press the button beside the bed if you need anything,” he instructed on his way out.

Keith and the McClains sat in peace for a while, until a thought occurred to Keith.

“How long have you guys been here?”

“Ever since the accident.” Isa responded.

“Uh, how long exactly was that?” Keith asked, realizing that he had never actually asked Shiro that.

“Two days.”

“And you haven’t been home?”

“...no?”

“You guys should get some rest! Go home, eat, sleep, take a shower! I’ll look after him.”

They all looked uncertainly between Keith and the door. They were exhausted, and definitely needed the rest, but we’re reluctant to leave Lance’s side.

“Here, someone give me their phone number, and I’ll call you if anything happens, okay?”

There was a pause, and Francisco stepped forward to give Keith his number.

“Take good care of him.” Francisco clapped him on the shoulder as he exited the room.

Once all of the McClains had filed out of the room, Keith wheeled himself closer to Lance.

He hadn’t thought this through. He wasn’t ready to be alone with Lance like this. All he could think of was that the only reason Lance was here was because Keith had screwed up.

Keith grabbed his hand, and shut his eyes tight.

“Look Lance... I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen.” Keith’s voice shook violently. “I just wanted to take you out for lunch! I was so proud of you. And then you said you needed to tell me something, and- I don’t know, I guess I got my hopes up? I felt like maybe... you might have feelings for me? I don’t know, it’s probably stupid, you were probably going to tell me that you didn’t need me now that you’ve passed Biology, but in the moment, I got excited. And I guess that distracted me. And then everything went to shit I guess. That’s just how the universe works, right?” Keith laughed, wiping away a tear. “I start to think that maybe the guy I like might like me back, and then I send him into a fricken coma! What’s that you always say? ‘Thanks universe’? Yeah. So, thanks universe. This is working out real well.”

Keith took a shuddering breath.

“Lance, just please... I need you to wake up. Please. I don’t even know what I’d do without you. So, please. Come back to me?”

___________________________________

  
Everything was dark.

Lance’s eyes flicked back and forth through the darkness. He tried to reach out in front of him, but his arms were glued to his sides.

Where was he?

His eyes strained to try and see something, anything, but to no avail. So, he closed his eyes, and tried to listen.

He heard something!

It was faint, but it was something. Lance walked in the direction of the sound.

It was a voice!

It sounded familiar, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on whose it was.

He tried to make out what the voice was saying.

“...need you to wake up. Please. I don’t even know what I’d do without you. So, please. Come back to me?”

Keith.

Lance’s eyes popped open.

He looked around, and quickly located Keith. He was hunched over a bed, and holding someone’s hand.

Who was it?

Lance took a few steps closer.

“Hey man, what’s wrong? What happened?”

Keith didn’t respond.

Lance peered over to see who was in the bed, and was faced with... himself?

All the features were identical to his, but it was almost like seeing a wax figure of himself. All the colour had drained from his face, and there was no sign of any life in his body.

Was he dead?

Was he a ghost?

Then he noticed the heart monitor beating steadily beside him.

What was happening?

Lance backed up a few steps, and ran out of the room. He needed space. He needed to figure out what the hell was happening.

He heard some more voices coming from the next room over.

He poked his head in through the door, to see Shiro and Matt, sitting on a hospital bed, surrounded by McDonalds wrappers.

“... glad Keith is okay.”

“Yeah, me too. I’m still worried though. I mean, if Lance doesn’t pull through, I don’t know what this is going to do to him.” Lance heard Shiro express.

“They seemed really close.”

“They definitely were. Keith was never really good at making friends... or interacting with people at all actually. But he told me that for some reason, he just clicked with Lance. That was really special to him. He’s never really had a best friend before either, more just acquaintances. So Lance is really important to him.”

“Best friend? I got the vibe that it was maybe more than that.”

“Yeah, so did I,” Shiro laughs. “the way Keith talks about him really gives it away, huh? Whenever I ask him about it, he denies everything, but his face goes bright red. It’s adorable.”

“Aw man, I’d love to see Keith blush!”

“Yeah, it was quite something.”

There was a break in the conversation for a while, which gave Lance some time to think.

Keith had a crush on him? What? Does that mean-

“You know... only 7 percent of coma patients wake up with no brain damage.” Matt broached.

“Yeah. But we have to stay optimistic. For Keith. He’ll be absolutely destroyed if Lance doesn’t wake up. He blames himself already.”

Lance had heard enough.

Keith liked him? He was in a coma? He might have brain damage? Keith blamed himself?

Lance had to wake up. He had to find a way.

He stormed back in to his own hospital room, where Keith remained.

How was he supposed to wake up?

He tried lying on top of his body, because obviously that was his first thought. But it didn’t work. He then tried jumping into his body, which still didn’t work.

Throughout the next hour, Lance discovered 28 ways to try and fail to re enter his body.

He sat down on the chair beside Keith, and sighed shakily.

“I’m sorry Keith. I really tried. I guess... I just can’t do it.”

He put his head down into his hands.

“I don’t know what to do. Keith, I’m sorry. You’re going to be okay without me though. You should talk to Pidge more. They’re really cool. And find my buddy Hunk? He’s the best friend a guy could ask for. He’s a literal angel. You won’t find a better friend on the planet.”

Lance reached out, and put his hand on Keith’s.

“I’m going to miss you...”

Then suddenly, Keith’s neck snapped up. He was looking straight at Lance.

“Lance?”

“Keith!”

Then everything went black again.

And as soon as the darkness came, it left.

Lance’s eyes opened slowly. He looked around blearily, and saw Keith’s tearful face smiling down at him.

“Lance!”

“Hey man, how’s it hanging?”

“I’m just glad you’re awake! Are you okay? Do you need anything?”

“I need you to know that the crash wasn’t your fault.”

“What? But it was. I was distracted-“

 _“I distracted you_. It’s not your fault. I told you that I needed to tell you something, because I was impatient, and couldn’t wait until lunch.”

“What did you need to tell me?”

“Uh, yeah, that. Well, the thing is... you know what, no. I’m just going to say it. I like you Keith. I like the way your hair poofs up when you run, and I like the way your eyes light up when you laugh, I like your strange obsession with both hippos and knives. I like you.”

Lance held his breath.

“Oh my god.” Keith laughed.

“What?” Lance asked, concerned.

“It’s just, I was going to tell you that at lunch too.”

Oh. Lance knew that. Should he tell him?

Maybe not. He acted surprised.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. I like you a lot. More than I’ve ever liked anyone. And it’s kind of scary, but also, kind of amazing.”

The boys sat, and smiled at each other. Lance was speechless. This wasn’t really how this was supposed to go, but was somehow better than he had ever imagined.

“Thank you.” Keith whispered.

“For what?” Lance furrowed his eyebrows.

“For coming back.”

Keith didn’t know that Lance had heard what he had said when Lance was in a coma, but for once, Lance remembered every detail.

So, he kissed him.

He pressed his lips firmly into Keith’s, and closed his eyes.

Keith’s lips were soft, and tasted sweet, probably from the pop in his Happy Meal.

Keith didn’t move at first, which gave Lance a bit of a scare, but soon he had his hands on Lance’s face, and was moving his lips in time with Lance’s. The world disappeared. The beeping of the heart monitor faded into the background, and and footsteps from outside the door dissolved into nothing. It was just Keith and Lance, in their own private universe.

Lance had kissed people before, but never like this. What he felt for Keith was so strong, and he had never wanted to kiss someone as badly as he wanted to his Keith. And man was Keith a good kisser. His lips moved perfectly along with Lance’s, pressing into him, and tugging on the tufts of hair behind Lance’s ears.

Eventually, they both ran out of breath.

“Sorry, that was probably not the best thing to do to someone who just woke up from a coma.” Keith said sheepishly.

“Are you joking? That was the best wake up ever! And I kissed you first anyway.” Lance stated smugly.

Rolling his eyes and wheeling away, Keith said, “Well, I guess I’ll just have to get you back next time.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m pressing the button beside your bed to let the doctors know they have to come.”

“Ew, doctors?”

“You were in a coma!”

“I guess.” Lance grumbled.

“I should call your family as well, they just left a while ago to get some rest, but they told me to call if anything happened.”

The doctors ended up taking Lance out of the room to run tests, leaving Keith to wait for Lance’s family. Shiro and Matt joined him, and demanded Keith tell them everything that happened.

Matt finally got to see Keith blush.

Lance was cleared in all of his tests, and enjoyed a tearful reunion with his family.

He and Keith promised each other that as soon as Lance got out of the hospital, they would go on their first date.

And so they did.

_________________________________

  
“Keith, come on!”

Lance had chosen their first date to be at the sushi place that they never got to go to, proceeded by a visit to the arcade.

“Absolutely not.”

“It’ll be fun!”

“No!”

“For meeee?” Lance gave him his widest puppy dog eyes.

“Ugh, fine.”

“Oh yeah, I know I’m fine baby.” Lance smirked, running a hand through his hair.

“You dork, let’s just get this over with.”

The boys stepped into a small photo booth.

They were informed that there would be four pictures, starting on the count of three.

Lance pushed a grumpy looking Keith’s lips up into a smile for the first picture.

In the second picture, Keith was playfully rubbing Lance’s hair in retaliation.

The third picture captured Lance kissing Keith’s cheek, and Keith blushing madly.

And the fourth documented Keith’s payback. A stunned Lance had his eyes wide open, as Keith leaned in and kissed him.

“You know, maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all!” Keith announced as they exited the booth.

“Shut up, mullet.” Lance grinned, wrapping an arm around Keith’s shoulders.

Sometimes Keith still couldn’t believe that this all had happened. Lance liking him back, their first kiss, their first date.

It all seemed so surreal. Yet he was so grateful that it had happened. He wouldn’t change a thing.

As the boys walked over to a virtual sniper game, Keith thought to himself,

“ _Thanks universe_.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s the end! I hope you guys liked it! If you want to read more of my stories, I have one more out right now, a collaboration with mckogaine, called Headlines and Blue Lines, and there are definitely more coming soon! You can also find my Voltron fan account on Instagram @voltronlegendarydorks , or my Instagram art account @artistrays , where I mostly redraw different screen caps with Voltron characters. You can also find me on tumblr @lordofthebooks07! 
> 
> -fairytails <3


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